Ugandan John Nyago Reflects on the Impact of G.O.D. Int'l in his Hometown
John Nyago grew up in Bombo, Uganda. His father, Muyomba Tom, was a pastor there whom a team from G.O.D. Int’l met in July of 2004. John has been a dear friend since that time. He began participating with the movement in 2008 after gaining his permanent residency in the U.S., and has since been taking Bible and missiology courses at the Institute. Below he tells his testimony of the work of Global Outreach Developments, Int’l in his home town and country.
My first encounter with the ministry of G.O.D. Int’l was in Uganda, East Africa in July of 2004. A team came to my hometown of Bombo, a village of about 20,000 people located approximately 20 miles north of Uganda’s capital city of Kampala.
Before G.O.D. Int'l came to Bombo, my family and the church in Bombo were earnestly praying that God would bring people to our community who would help to teach God’s word, empower our people, and attend to the needs of the community. My father, Tom Muyomba, is a pastor and has always wanted all people to know and experience God. But during this time, he felt inadequate due to the diverse needs of Bombo and his limited education both in the Bible and in secular studies. This drove all of us to pray and trust God to bring more laborers to teach and work in Bombo. Miraculously, God led G.O.D. to Bombo, a place that they had never been to nor had any contacts with before.
Ever since G.O.D. began working in Bombo, many people’s lives have been transformed. G.O.D. has not only taught the Bible but also practically exemplified fundamental biblical virtues such as love, servanthood, humility, and faith, among others, in their daily living with the people. The quality and depth of G.O.D’s Bible teachings were revelatory and very appropriate to our situation.
My first encounter with G.O.D. in Uganda was also my first time seeing missionaries preparing and cooking food with the local people, washing dishes and doing laundry, eating similar food to that of the local people, and sleeping in ordinary houses of the local people. Generally, missionaries from the West bring in their own food, finding boarding in the city, and miss out on experiencing life as the locals do. G.O.D.’s incarnation and solidarity with the impoverished people in society to this day reminds me of what God did through Christ when he became like one of us, and lived among us!
I remember how the team from G.O.D. always loved to learn and call every person by their name as well as desiring to listen to each person’s story. Knowing a person by name acknowledges that he/she is a valuable human being with a special identity. Most people also don’t want to listen to other people’s stories, especially those from the poor and marginalized. I think they don’t want to be responsible for what they might hear. But the G.O.D team members were not afraid of listening to my people’s heart-breaking stories. I saw team members praying, crying, encouraging, and holding hands with the local people, helping the people to process their experience and find healing from God and the fellowship of other brethren. In the middle of all this, I felt God; through the genuine expression of concern by the G.O.D team I felt God comforting, caring and working in his people, not afraid of the chaos surrounding their experience.
To this day, I am hopeful of more wonderful ways that God is going to continue working, empowering and revitalizing the people in Bombo so that they can be a light to the rest of Uganda and the world at large.
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